Automatic musical-instrument player.



I. B. SMITH.

`AUToMA'lIC-MUSIGAL INSTRUMENT PLAYER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.21, 1907.

Patented June 1,1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

78 l wuzntoz anouww I. B. -SMITH.

AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT PLAYER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV`.21,1907.

Patented Juue,1,1909.

` 2 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

wi h1 @ou ucmmw Unrrnn srrirns rafrnnrornion IRVING B. SMITH, or InILADnLrnLi, rnNNsrLVANI, AssIeNoR To nLEcTRELL ooM- PANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

AUTOMATIC MUSICAL-INSTRUMEN T LAYER.

l `Specification of Letters Patent.

retenir-ed June 11909.

' Application filed November 21, 1907. Serial N o. 403,148.

T o all'whom it 'may concern:

i Be it known that I, IRVING B. SMITH, a citizenof the United States, residing1 atlhiladelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful-Improvements in Automatic Musmal-Instrument Players, of which the lollowing is a specification.

lThis invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in automatic musical instrument players of the general type illusl tatedil my pending' application7 Serial No.

276,189, iiled August 29, 1905, wherein the hammer-actuating mechanism is located in the upper part of the instrument casing, as for instance, in the upper part of the casing of an upright piano;- and which actuating mechanism in the present embodiment of the invention comprises in part a rotary shaft or roll, and a plurality of friction shoes'coperatively associated therewith and adapted :to be actuated thereby, the said shoes each j having` a Aliexible tape or cord connectionv with a part of each individual hammer action. and serving to iinpcl the piano hammers against their strings.

lIt has been found in practice when adjust-y ing the iiexible tapes vor cords on .the player vstrike the strings,

laction, that in some makes o'i pianos it is difficult to set them exactly right for both loud and soft tones, it being evident that it there is too much slack in the tapes or cords the hammer actions will not be moved suiliciently and properly to cause the hammers to To understand this more clearly consider the operation of the piano when -played either by the automatic playermechanism or by hand. ln striking a key the hammer-3 ack impels the action until the escapement releases the-jack. The hammer continues to travel forward, striking' the string, rebounds and the back-stop impinges the back-check thereby bringing tliehamnier I to rest'before it returns to the hammer rail.

If it struck thehammer rail onlyand not the back-check, the hammer` would rebound.

on a loud or forte tone would do no particular'harm, except to aiiect the touch in a manner to be somewhat annoying in hand playing. In soft or pianissinio tones,

however, the hammer rest-rail, and consequently the hammers, are moved very close to the strings and then if the back-stop does lnot properly engage with the back-check it may not damp the hammer movement and tional view showing i the hammers may, after strikingthe hammer rail, rebound so 'far as to strike the strings again giving rise-to very undesirable and unpleasant notes. `Now in practice it is found that if the flexible tapes or cords. are made just the proper length when playing loud tones (that is, with the hammer rail out of normal position, namely; that position which causes the hammers to lie farthest from the strings) the tapes will often be found too long when playing soft tones (i. c., when the hainn'ier rail is advanced). That is, the tapes or cords have so much slack that they will not lift the wi p pen high enough to cause the back.

check to properly hold the back-stop' when the hammers return from striking the strings. The present invention, therefore, relates primarily to mechanism 'for automatically taking up enough of the slack in the flexible tapes or cords to cause them to properly raise the wippens, ,and cause satisfactory engagement of the back-checks and back-stops, and insure `proper operation of the piano hanimers.

` In the present showing which is merely for illustrative purposes the tape-adj ustin g mechanism is shown cooperatively associated with a known form oi' expression mechanism, but it will be obvious that the same may be einploye'd in connection with other forms of expression mechanism.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to understand, make and use the iinprovements, these will now be described in detail, reference being had for this purpose to the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of the upper portion ol' anl upright piano, having front elevation ol the slack adjusting mechanism cooperatively associated with Ithe expression i'nechanism. Fig. Ll, is a detail sece construction and manner of attaching the arms'26, to 'its rock shaft and the lever 23, toits arm.

Referring to the drawing the reference letter A designates the casing of a musical in- ',strument, in the present instance shownas an upright piano; b one of the piano strings; c a hammer head; d a back-stop e, .a back check; j a wippen; g action extension, and h a linger key, all of which parts may b e of any preferred construction.

The automatic playing mechanism is located in the upper part of the instrument casing, in front of the strings, and preferably above the hammer heads. This mechanism, in the present showing, and which is merely illustrative of one embodiment of the invention, comprises a rapidly rotating shaft or roll 5, above which is located a plurality of friction shoes 6, each pivoted to the armature 7 of an electro-magnet 8, there being a friction shoe and cooperating electro-magnet for each individual hammerY action, or as many as it is desired t0 operate automatically. lThe friction shoes are normally held out of contact with the shaft or roll 5, and therefore -normally inactive, but are brought into contact with the said shaft or roll and thus rendered active, whenever'the electromagnets 8 are energized, this bein(Jr accomplished by completing the electrical circuits in which the magnets are included, through medium of a suitable record, such as a perforated music sheet (notshown). A flexible tape or cord connection 9 is provided between each friction shoe 6, and the wippen f of the appropriatehammer action, the arrangement of parts being such that whenever a friction shoe is brought into contact with the rapidly rotating shaft or roll, said shoe willbe kicked forward, giving a sudden jerk or pull upon its tape or cord which will result in an 'actuation of the hammer action and cause the hammer to strike thestring. This mechanism is shown and described in detail in my aforesaid pending application and need not be gone into here with greater particularity. Also embodied in the instrument and ,associated with the piano hammers is an j expression mechanism comprising a flexible bar which acts as a hammer-rest, mearis being provided for moving the said bar, and with it the hammers, toward and from the piano strings to effect pianissimo, forte, fortissimo, and crescendo expressions.

For the purposes of illustration I have selected the general type of expression mechanism shown and described in my aforesaid pending application, and in my prior patent No. 777,226, dated December 13, 1904, which comprises a flexible hammer rest rail 'made up of two sections 12, 12, pivoted together at theiradjacent ends as at 13. This rail serves as a rest for thepiano hammers and the sections thereof` together With the hammers are designed to be moved, either collectively or independently, in order to shift the` position of rest'of a series of hammers whereby the length of stroke of the successive hammers of the series will vary from end to end of the series, with the result that a lwide'range of artistic musical ex ressions may be obtained,

l The mechanism for operatin the hammer"- rest-rail sections comprises t re'e separate l' rock-shafts 14, l5, 16, to each of which is attached an arm 17, which arms support and carry the h'ainmer-rest-rail by having connections therewith respectively, at its op osite ends and intermediate its ends. he rock-shafts may be operated so as to actuate the rest-rail and piano hammers by any suitable means, preferably under the control of the performer when seated at the instrument, the means herein shown consisting of fingerv keys 18, pivoted beneath the piano key-board, each said finger key 18 having a connection 19 with an arm 20, fixed to its appropriate rock-shaft.

As heretofore mentioned, it has been found in practice when adjusting the fiexible tapes or cords' 9, that connect the friction shoes 6 and wippensf, in some makes of pianos, it is difficult to set them exactly right for both loud and soft tonesso there will be no'slack. It is the prime purpose of this invention to provide means for automatically taking up the slack in the tapes, said means being cooperatively associated-and operable simultaneously with the expression mechanism.

In the present embodiment of the invention a flexible tape-adjusting-rail is employed, over which the iiexible tapes or cords pass, and lthrough the movement of which the slack in the ta es may be taken up, said rail being arranged) transversely of the ta )es or cords and preferably located at a point eshown in Fie. 2 of the drawin This flexiity of alined sections 2l., which may or may not be jointed at theira'djacent ends, de-

anism with which it is associated." ,In the at 22, and is supported by three leversI 23, each piveted intermediate its ends, as at 24, to suitable brackets 25, one of said levers being connected at its lower end to each end of the tape-adjusting-rail sections 21, and the other or middle one of the.- three having a swiveled connection with the adjacent jointed ends of said sections, as more clearly 'shown in Fig. 2. The three levers 23 each upper ends with the three rock-shafts 1.4, 15, 16, of the expression mechanism so'as to be operated in such manner as tomove the tapeadjusting-rail and take up'the slack in the tapes or cords as it'occurs during the operation of the expression mechanism. One manner of operatively connecting the levers v23 tothe appropriate rock-shafts is by means of ali-arm 26, secured by a set-screw 27 to each rock-,'flmft, so as to partake of the movements thereof., cach arm 26 being )rovided with a slo't orA bifurcation 2S, which takes over the shank cfa screw 2S), passing lowthe plane of the friction shoes, as clearlyy pending upon the type of expression mechble tape-adjusting-rail is made up 4of a pluralpresent instance the rail is shown as jointed r have separate operable connections at their through an elongated slot 30 formed in each lever 23, the said screws 29 being held in po- -cord connections 9,

sition by means of lock nutsSl, as-more clearl y shown in Fig. 4. The screw 29, serves 'as a pivot or pivotal joint between the arms 23, and 26'. By this arrangement it will be seen that the position of the tape-adjusting rail sections will be .shifted whenever thi` hammer rest-rail sections are shifted and in a corresponding manner-` butin a reverse or o )posite direction. -For instance. assuming); tat one r both sections of the hair meii1estrail 'an d hammers resting therca, iinst is moved from .normal position (which is close up to the'piano stringsl to a p.osition farther removed from the strings, then thc tape-adjusting rail, through the jointed connections with the rock-shafts, as heretofore lvlescribed` will be sin'iiiltaneoiisly and proportionatel)v moved to tale'up and'compensate for any slack that'may cccur in the flexible tape or between the friction shoes o and wippensfof'the han'inier actions. rlllie amount of movement imparted to the tape-adjusting` rail may be adjusted or vai'ied as desired, to 'suitthe' varyingconditions as found in di."'erent makes of pianos, by simply adjust-ingthe position of the screws '29 in the elongated slots 30 of the levers 23, which adjustment will, as is obvious, shift the point of .leverage and consequently Vary the throw of the levers.

T he slack-adjusting mechanism herein shown and described is illustrated by ray of example in connection with the shoe and Aroller construction of' actuating means dis- `closed in my prior patents and applications,

. other forms of actuating means.

.nection between the said device and actuator, and means i'or inaintaining said flexible Connection operatively taut. 2l In combination, a sound producing dcvice, an actuator therefor, a flexible coni nection;between said device and actuator',

and means for taking up the slack in said flexible connection.

3. In combination, a soundeproducing dcvice, an actuator therefor, a flexible connection between said device and actuator, and

means cooperatively associated with said flexible connection for tz'dringi up the `slack thereiirl l i 4. -ln combina-tion, a sound--j'iroducing device, an actuator-itlieref'or, a flexible connection between saisldevice aiid actuator, and

, means under the dontrpl et' the performer i for taking up the slaclg therein.

5. ln conibination,'a soun d-producing device, an actuator therefor, a flexible connecl tion between said device and actuator, and manually operable means cooperatively associated with said flexible connection tortaking up the slack therein. y

o. in music playing,r mechanism, the-'combination with tir e sound-producing devices, of actuators therefor, flexible connections'between said sound-producing devices and actuators, and means cooperatively associated with the said flexible connections for takingl up the slack therein. v

7. In combination, a piano hammer action, an actuator therefor, aflexible connection between a part of said action and said actuator, and means for taking' up the slack in the said flexible connection.

8. ln combination, a piano hammer action, an actuator therefor, a flexible tape connecting' a part of said hammer action and said actuator, and-manually opi-irableniean.; for taking' upthe slack in said tape.

Q. ln automatic music playing mechanism the combination with the sound-producing devices, of' a plurality of actuators therefor, flexible connections between said devices and actuators, expression mechanism for varying' the cxprcssionof the sound-producing devices, and means cooperativelyr associated with said expression mechanism for taking' up the slack in the vsaid flexible. connectioi'is between the. sound-producingdevices and actuators. y

l0. ln combiimtion, a plurality of piano hammer actions, actuators therefor, flexible connections between said actuators and hammeractions, expression nwchanism co "ipera .tively associated with the. hammers for moving them toward and from the piano strings, and means'for taking up the slack in said flexible. connections.

1]. lu combination with a pluralityY of piano luin'imcr-actions, actuators therefor, flexible connfw'ztions between said actuators and hammer actions, expression mechanismv cot'ipcrativcly associated with the hammers for moviner them toward and fi'oin thc-piano strings, and means operatively connected with said expression mcclmnism for takingr up the slackin said flexible connections bctwecii the hammer actions and actuators.

12. In combination with the hammer actions of a piano, a plurality of actuators for,

said hammer actions, flexible connections be tween the actuators and hammer actions, a hammer rest rail, means-'lor operating' thc.

hammer rest rail to move 'the hammers toward and from their strings, and means cooperatively associated with the means for opertherefor, flexible connectionsfbetween said actuators andhammer actions, a hammer rest rail, means for flexing said rail and means operable simultaneously with the hammer rest-rail flexing means for taking up the slack in the said flexible connections.

14. In combination with the hammer, ac-

tions of a piano, actuators therefor, flexible connections between said actuators and hammer actions, a hammer rest rail, means under the control of the performer. for moving said rest rail to shift the position of restl of the hammers and mechanism cooperatively associated with the said manually operable means for taking up the slack in the said flexible connections between the actuators and hammer actions.

15. In combination with the sound-producing devices of a musical instrument, actuators therefor, flexible connections between said devices and actuators, expression 'mechanism coperatively associated with the sound producing devices and means influenced by the operation of the expression mechanism for taking up the slack in the said flexible connections between the said devices and actuators. Y

1G. In combination with the hammer actions of a piano, a plurality of actuators therefor, flexible' connections between said taking up slack in the said flexible connections between the hammer act1o'ns and actuators.

18. -In combination with the hammer ac-l tions of a piano, a plurality of actuators therefor, flexible connections between said actuators and hammer actions, a sla-cli adjusting rail over which said flexible connections pass, andl manually operable means for shifting the position of said rail to take up the slack in the said flexible connections.

19.' In combination with the hammer actions of a piano, actuating mechanism therefor, comprising a rotary shaft, and a plural- 'a sectional slack-adjustingrail over which said flexing connections pass.

21. In combination with the hammer actions of a piano, actuating mechanism therefor, comprising a rotary shal' t and a plurality of friction shoes coperatively=- associated therewith, a flexible connection between each shoe and its appropriate hammer action, a

sectional slack adjusting rail over which said' lflexible connections pass, and manually operable means for moving said rail.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in'presence of two subscribing witnesses. l l ravine B. SMITH.

vitnesses :A

WALTER A. BILGER, STEPHEN J. KING. 

